Impact on habitual crossfit participant's exercise behavior, health, and well‐being: A cross‐sectional survey of UK COVID‐19 lockdowns

Abstract Background and Aims The period between March 2020 and March 2021 saw an unprecedented change to everyday life due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. This included the closure of businesses in the health and fitness sector. Such closures impacted people in several ways; increasing stress, reducing mental well‐being, and decreasing motivation to exercise. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of UK lockdowns on the behavior, motives, and general health & well‐being of CrossFit™ gym members in the United Kingdom. Methods A cross‐sectional study was conducted on 757 CrossFit™ participants (height 1.71 ± 0.10 m; weight 76.4 ± 16.1 kg; body mass index [BMI]: 26.1 ± 4.7 kg/m²) using an online survey, which included questions pertaining to COVID‐19, lockdown behaviors, motivation, health, and well‐being. Participants also reported on their training background and exercise habits during lockdown restrictions. Results Differences were observed in levels of exercise (p = 0.004), motivation to train at home (p < 0.001), and the feeling of being more stressed during the second lockdown compared with the first lockdown (p = 0.008). It was also highlighted that motivation to exercise was lower and stress levels significantly higher, in the 18–24 and 25–34 age groups compared with older ages groups. Conclusion This study found that exercise behavior, motivation, and stress levels were significantly impacted by the second government‐imposed lockdown. It is argued that these factors need to be addressed in planning for future National lockdowns to maintain the health and well‐being of UK residents, especially in younger adults.


| INTRODUCTION
There is an abundance of research linking regular exercise with improved mental and physical health. 1,2 This relationship is further strengthened by research such as Weinstein et al., 1 who investigated the relationship between exercise/physical activity withdrawal and mental health. They found withdrawal from exercise for as little as 2 weeks resulted in symptoms of depression, fatigue, tension, and decreased self-esteem. Similar feelings were also reported by Antunes and colleagues 3 who found increases in negative mood following exercise deprivation in exercise addicted subjects.
Over the last 3 years, we have seen several disruptions to everyday life due to government-imposed lockdowns. One of the major consequences of this has been the reduction in physical activity undertaken, ultimately leading to decreases in mental and physical health, and increases in unhealthy behaviors [4][5][6][7][8][9] such as poor sleeping patterns/modified sleeping behavior, 6 poor nutritional choices, 7 and increased alcohol consumption. 8 Studies reporting on the health of the general population during the first UK lockdown reported increased sedentary behavior, greater disease risk, and increased negative psychological characteristics. [10][11][12][13][14][15] These characteristics include posttraumatic stress symptoms, anger, infection fears, and boredom 16 many of which were considered a consequence of financial struggles, frustration, and inadequate supplies of essential items and services during the lockdown period. 16 For those who exercise consistently as part of an active lifestyle, gym closures and competition cancellations have been associated with additional stress, anxiety, frustration, and depression, namely related to the removal of social support and the change to normal training/exercise routines. [17][18][19][20] This reduction in physical activity due to gym closures not only facilitates sedentary behavior but also reduces social interaction which for a lot of individuals impacts mental health and well-being, particularly as many participate to reduce their symptoms of anxiety and depression. 15,19 Some preliminary investigations have demonstrated that if exercise behaviors are maintained during lockdown periods, the impact on mental health is limited, 18 while others have noted a decline in mental health, suggesting that further investigation is needed. 20 However, it is evident that habitually trained individuals from community focused exercise programs are more likely to maintain exercise habits during nationally imposed lockdowns and report fewer changes to mental health as a result. 18 Community-focused programs, such as CrossFit™ are generally associated with high levels of retention and adherence compared with other forms of fitness training, 21 particularly when the methodology seeks to increases exercise enjoyment; provides challenge and satisfaction; and enhances goal achievement, elements associated with positive mental health. 22 To understand the impact of restricted exercise access, for population groups such as this, further investigation is required.
Specifically, the impact of successive lockdowns on habitual community focused/group exercise and health. Recent investigations by Ocobock and Hejtmanek 20 support the notion that individuals who participate in CrossFit™ are less likely to be impacted by lockdown, compared with other forms of exercise. However, it is not yet known how multiple lockdown periods may impact participants who are more socially invested in their physical training regimes and thus, could be more vulnerable when normal training regimes are significantly disrupted. 21 No investigations to date have compared the outcomes of two successive lockdowns, or the long-term impact on psychological well-being in habitually trained individuals therefore, this area warrants further exploration.

| Aims and objectives
Subsequently, the aims of this study were to investigate the effects of consecutive lockdown periods in a habitually trained population.
To inform findings, this study will focus on habitually trained CrossFit™ athletes, where typical levels of retention and adherence are known to be high compared with other forms of fitness training. 18 Specifically, the study will investigate motivations, exercise behaviors, and general well-being between the two lockdowns. It is proposed that these findings may help to evidence the importance of gyms and thus their essential status in future lockdowns or prolonged periods of imposed closure.

| Survey design
The survey (Appendix 1 available at request from corresponding author) adopted was specifically designed for this study and centered on a self-reported structure. The questionnaire consisted of five parts. The first part gathered demographic information and consisted of eight questions regarding participant's gender, age, body height, body weight, ethnicity, and training location. The second part of the survey focused on the participants' training background and consisted of four questions designed using a deductive approach to collect information regarding their training years, the type of gym they train at; the number of minutes exercised per week, and how many CrossFit™ sessions they participate in per week. The third part of the questionnaire focused on participants' behavior, motives, and general health and well-being during lockdown periods. Participants were asked 12 questions designed using a deductive approach to collate data on whether they felt more stressed, more relaxed, less motivated to train, and exercised less during the second lockdown compared with the first lockdown. Participants were also asked to rank their main motives for participation in CrossFit™, as well as those they had missed most due to the lockdown restrictions. The motives derived using a deductive approach were fitness, mental health, general health, strength, time out, weight, performance, and toning. The fourth part of the survey asked participants about medical conditions and their severity. The final part of the survey asked participants whether they or the people around them had contracted COVID-19, and the severity of the virus. 17 In total, there were 5 parts, and a total of 39 questions.
The number of questions for each section was kept to a minimum to reduce response bias associated with boredom and increase validity. For the third section, where participants were asked to respond to statements focused on how the two UK lockdowns had affected their motivations, behaviors, and general health and wellbeing, a five-point Likert-type scale was adopted to elicit the strength of the participants' agreement, as follows: 1 = strongly agree; 2 = agree; 3 = neither agree nor disagree; 4 = disagree; 5 = strongly disagree. Each statement was kept as short as possible to improve the validity of the responses. In this section, participants were also asked to rank the order of potential motivations for participation in CrossFit™ by ranking them in order from 1 to 8.

| Data processing
All data collected from this study was downloaded and imported into    (Table 1).
Furthermore, a heavy ethical bias in responders was observed with 93.9% identifying as White compared with 1.7% Asian, 3.3% Mixed, and 1% Other (Table 1).

| CrossFit™ participation and training experience
Participants reported their current training from <1 year experience to 5+ years. Almost half of the participants reported training for over 5 years and only 8% had less than 1 year's experience (see Table 2). In terms of specific CrossFit™ training, participants reported less years' experience with only 21% having 5+ years in a CrossFit™ gym.
However, 94% of all respondents reported attending at least three CrossFit™ sessions per week with 13% attending six sessions and 11% attending every day (see Table 2). REDWOOD-BROWN ET AL. | 3 of 11

| Motives for CrossFit™ participation
Participants were asked to rank their main motives for attending the box in order from 1 = most important, 8 = least important ( Figure 1).
There was a significant difference found in the distribution of ranks given to the motives for CrossFit Participation (χ 2 (7) = 1571.5, p < 0.001; Figure 1). Post hoc analysis with a Bonferroni correction applied identified significant differences (Ζ = −20.77 to −3.91, p < 0.003; Figure 1) in the ranking of fitness, mental health, general health benefits, strength, and toning with all other motives, the strength of the ES of these differences were moderate to very strong (0.14-0.75). No significant differences were found (Z = −2.09 to −0.605, p > 0.05; Figure 1) in the rank between the following motives: time out; weight management/loss, and athletic performance, with the ES classified as weak (0.02-0.08).

| Exercise behaviors during the second lockdown
3.4.1 | Effect of a second lockdown on exercise levels, motivation to train, and feelings of stress Respondents reported that during lockdown they exercised less and had less motivation to train at home compared with before lockdown (Table 3). They also reported feeling more stressed during lockdown  compared with pre-lockdown (Table 3). These responses were common across genders, ethnicity, and BMI groups with no significant differences found in the strength of agreement between the subgroups. Significant differences were found however, across the age subgroups regarding a lower motivation to train at home (χ 2 (4) = 35.45, p < 0.001; Figure 2A) and feeling more stressed identified. Despite the low reliability of these findings due to the large differences in subgroup population, there is some evidence that the younger age groups (18-24 and 25-34) more strongly agreed that their motivation levels to train at home during lockdown were less compared with pre-lockdown, than the older age subgroups.
Although the difference in median between the over 65 age group (which indicated they neither agreed nor disagreed that their motivation levels to train at home were less during lockdown compared with pre-lockdown) and the other age groups was visibly different, no significant differences were observed likely due to the small population (n = 7) and large variation in responses.

| Effect of second lockdown on first lockdown exercise levels, motivation to train, and feelings of stress
Respondents demonstrated a level of agreement that during the second lockdown they exercised less and had less motivation to train at home compared with the first lockdown (Table 4). They also agreed that they felt more stressed during the second lockdown compared with the first (Table 4). These findings were again common across genders, ethnicity, and BMI groups with no significant differences found in the strength of agreement between the subgroups. Significant differences were found across age subgroups regarding the strength of agreement relating to exercising less (χ 2 (4) = 13.77, p = 0.008; Figure 3A), the motivation to train at home being less (χ 2 (4) = 20.03, p < 0.001; Figure 3B) and the feeling of being more stressed (χ 2 (4) = 12.90, p = 0.01; Figure 3C) during the second lockdown compared with the first lockdown.
Despite there being a significant effect of age on all three factors globally, post hoc tests were unable to reveal significant differences between any of the subgroups when the alpha value had been adjusted for multiple comparisons using Bonferroni's correction. This is likely due to the low power of each statistical test due to the large differences in each subgroup population size. Despite differences in the median between age groups within each factor, especially in the F I G U R E 2 Median levels of agreement reported between age groups for: (A) were your motivation levels to train less during lockdown compared with normal? (B) did you feel more stressed during lockdown compared with normal?
T A B L E 4 Median and interquartile range (IQR) for the effect of the second lockdown on first lockdown exercise levels, motivation to train at home, and feelings of stress for all participants and across gender, ethnicity, age, and BMI demographics.

| Stress
Periods of lockdown, such as those experienced in the United Kingdom have previously been associated with increased stress, anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion. 19 Stress is reportedly an outcome of economic and financial uncertainty, and a disruption to, or change to normal routine. [22][23][24][25] The removal of favored activities, or inability to visit "favorite places" has also been associated with increased feelings of stress in habitual exercisers. 19 In the current study, stress was reported as greater in the second lockdown compared with the first, specifically participants were generally less stressed and experienced more positive mental and physical well-being during the first lockdown compared with the second. Interestingly the youngest age group (18-24 years) were more likely to report increased stress during the second UK national lockdown, which is somewhat concerning.
A possible explanation for the increase in stress could relate to the reasons participants gave for their consistent participation in CrossFit™. Several participants in the current study ranked mental health as one of the highest reasons for participation, indicating that managing mental health through consistent exercise is an essential for many and as such, restricting habitual exercise patterns could be synonymous with increased feelings of stress. This relationship is also highlighted in previous literature 24 and has also been associated more strongly with younger adults. Namely as the disruption to their exercise routine results in a more significant change to their everyday life compared with their older counterparts, due to the reduction in social interaction, worry relating to the pandemic and a loss of local support network. [23][24][25] Furthermore, reductions in habitual exercise are often associated with feelings of guilt thus it may be evident that participants were experiencing emotional distress/guilt associated with a reduction to their normal exercise habits. 19 No further differences were noted in genders, despite contemporary literature indicating that younger females are at greater risk of pandemic induced anxiety and depression. 2,26 Typically, the CrossFit™ program is thought to enhance aspects of psychological health through creating a social support network. 21 High levels of motivation to exercise are considered to occur in tandem with social support and a sense of belongingness. [27][28][29] The results of the current study indicate that even the localized online support of a CrossFit™ community could not offset the increased feelings of stress in habitually trained individuals during the second lockdown period, when access to the gym was restricted. Previous research 18 would suggest that habitually trained CrossFit™ participants were more protected in their mental health during lockdown periods, particularly when compared with other forms of exercise. 20 The current study confirms that this is not the case when multiple lockdowns occur suggesting that cessation from community-focused activity, and prolonged lockdown periods are a risk to mental health.
An inverse relationship between positive healthy behaviors and emotional distress has been identified. 19,[23][24][25]  BMI or training experience and participation, which may limit the power of the statistical approach adopted. However, the strategy for recruitment and participant was the most feasible at the time of completion. Furthermore, the recruitment strategy also relied on self-selection to participate and therefore there may be some evidence of bias to those interested in the effect that national UK lockdown had on CrossFit™ participation. Nonetheless, this was a particular area of interest for researchers, therefore it did not seem appropriate to recruit beyond the CrossFit™ community.

| PERSPECTIVE
Overall, the purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of consecutive lockdown periods in a habitually trained population.
Although previous research has highlighted no impact on habitual exercisers, results from the current study found that the behavior, motives, and general health of members were impacted by the second lockdown, with a more significant impact on the younger age groups. These individuals (18-24 year age group) reported lower motivation to exercise and increased stress levels during the second lockdown, indicating their potential risk of decreased physical and psychological well-being. This was attributed to the decrease in social interaction, which is vital to younger age groups, especially when their social network revolves around their physical activity habits. It is argued that these factors need to be addressed in planning for future national lockdowns, and consideration should be given to recognizing fitness facilities as essential practices within healthcare during

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors would like to thank the CrossFit™ community and the associated affiliates for their help in disseminating the questionnaire to their members in a timely manner.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors declare no conflict of interest.

TRANSPARENCY STATEMENT
The lead author Athalie Redwood Brown affirms that this manuscript is an honest, accurate, and transparent account of the study being reported; that no important aspects of the study have been omitted; and that any discrepancies from the study as planned (and, if relevant, registered) have been explained.

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions.